


Sharp tongue

by TheMusicalCC



Series: Prompt drabbles [7]
Category: Book of Life (2014)
Genre: Angst, Drabble, F/M, Lover's Quarrel, Married Couple, youch this one still hurts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-12 00:31:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16862863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMusicalCC/pseuds/TheMusicalCC
Summary: Words can be worse than knives.





	Sharp tongue

**Author's Note:**

> Transferred from Tumblr, for a sentence-prompt challenge.

“You don’t get to pick and choose! You’re stuck with me!”

She regretted the words the moment they left her lips, because she saw them sink into him, almost as if they had been arrows piercing his body. His chest heaved and his shoulders and wings sagged the slightest, eyes aflame and angry -and she’s used to angry, she can deal with angry- but also so hurt. His mouth quivered. For years, La Muerte had savored being able to win the argument by rendering him speechless, but this time she was painfully aware of how petty it really was, to turn it into a contest of who could say the most awful thing and then actually going and saying to her husband the most hurtful thing she could think of because she just  _had to_  win.

“Stuck with you” Xibalba finally repeated, looking very gray and tired for someone who’d been arguing with all his might a moment before. His voice had an edge only a fool could miss, but it was also almost a sigh, the exhausted breath of one who has carried a gigantic burden for far too long; and then he chuckled once, like a cough. Like a sob. She would have rather he yelled, anything but the broken, un-Xibalba-like sound of his weary voice as he placed a hand over his forehead “I guess I am, aren’t I? Stuck like a swimmer in the mud of the banks…. _drowning_ ” 

He growled the last word in a way that made her flinch the slightest.

“Stuck with you because I love you! Chained to you by this stupid,  _stupid_  heart of mine!” he struck his own chest with a fist angrily “That would sooner let itself be carved out than stop beating for you-!”

“ _Words_ ” she hissed, turning away from him so he wouldn’t see how she shook “Empty promises! Just how foolish do you think I am? It’s all just words- always has been!”

Xibalba slammed the tip of his staff angrily against the floor, wings flapping, and she heard them swish as he turned his back on her, ready to leave. But he halted, his breath heavy as he tried to control his anger.

“…do you want to know the punchline to this joke of a marriage?” he finally said, his voice still exhausted and full of bite “I  _did_  get to pick and choose…and I chose you”

She manages to hold herself together until he’s gone, but just barely.

**Author's Note:**

> Kids, this is why you always watch what you say to people you care about.
> 
> (Ouch, my heart)


End file.
